While the number of hardrock mineral claims staked this year hit rock bottom, overall, the mining and exploration industry was up slightly over last year, the annual Yukon Geoscience Forum heard this morning.

The pace of placer gold mining, however, was on par with last year.

Summaries of the two sectors were presented by geologists from the Yukon Geological Survey.

Lara Lewis told the audience money spent on exploration so far is estimated at $80 million, while another $52 million went into developing existing and future mines, for a total of $132 million invested in the hardrock sector.

The Chihong Canada Mining Ltd. was responsible for half of the total expenditures with $65 million spent on an aggressive exploration program at its Selwyn property, as well as upgrading road access, which included construction of several bridges, she said.

By comparison, figures from 2013 show total expenditures at this time last year were $45 million on exploration and $56 million on development, for a total of $111 million or $21 million shy of this year so far.

Expenditures in 2014 represent a significant drop from the boom years of 2010 and 2011, when the Yukon experienced unprecedented exploration spending, particularly in 2011.

That year, for instance, there was well over 100,000 claims staked, in a year that saw $300 million spent on exploration alone, along with $150 million on mine development.

This year, there were 1,200 claims staked, Lewis told the audience. The good news, on the other hand, is that there are still 225,235 hardrock claims in good standing, and nobody’s letting them lapse but rather are waiting out the storm, she said.

The fact there is a downturn in the Yukon’s mining industry is no secret, as it was discussed extensively during presentations over the weekend.

As Rod Thomas of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada put it on Sunday, the exploration industry is in the middle of its regular cycle were money is tight and investors are taking a look.

“I will admit I have been around the clock a few times and therefore I know that in the fullness of time, it will get better,” he said.

Thomas said economic conditions south of the border are improving, and there is a massive wave of demand building in Asia as hundreds of millions of people are beginning to grasp the middle class for the first time.

Lewis said expenditures on exploration this year were dominated by companies looking for gold, accounting for 61 per cent of the $80 million.

The search for base metals was spearheaded by Chihong Canada and its Selwyn project, she said.

Lewis pointed out while Alexco Resource has suspended production under the current market conditions, it still spent $5 million drilling exploration holes on two of its silver properties.

Atac Resources Ltd. spent $7 million on an exploration program for its Rackla Gold Project, she told the audience.

Lewis said there are several mining projects advancing, such as Western Copper and Gold Corp.’s Casino Project, which has entered the environmental and socio-economic review phase.

A number of others, she added, have produced preliminary economic assessments, and a couple are in the stage of developing pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.

Production at Capstone Mining’s Minto Mine has remained constant, Lewis said. She said the production of Yukon Zinc’s Wolverine Mine is at 75 per cent capacity.

“I do not have any current production numbers from them but they have been feeling the pain like some of the other operators.”

Placer mining geologist Jeff Bond said the territory’s placer gold mining industry is hearty.

There were 160 active operations this year, producing a total of 54,000 ounces to date, for a value of $60.1 million, he said.

“It was a very successful year,” said Bond. “The overall production has remained steady.”

Bond said he expects he’ll see another 5,000 ounces reported from this year, bringing the total production to even with last year’s 59,000 ounces.

The bulk of placer gold – 25,835 ounces – came from the Indian River watershed, and almost 8,000 came from the Indian River itself, Bond pointed out.

He said placer mines operating in the Klondike River drainage accounted for 12,184 ounces, with production from Bonanza Creek leading the way at just shy 3,500 ounces.

Production in the Sixtymile River watershed and other tributaries west of Dawson City accounted for a total of 3,948 ounces, with the Sixtymile miners taking the lion’s share – 2,500 ounces.

Placer mining in the Mayo area produced 1,838 ounces while 1,275 came out of Clear Creek, Bond told the audience.

The Dawson Range west of Carmacks, Mount Nansen and the Freegold area, accounted for 1,470 ounces while 578 ounces came out of the Ruby Range in Kluane country.

Bond said the placer industry remains vibrant.

Of particular good news is the revival of the former Ross Mining property on Dominion Creek, now under the ownership of Dominion Gold Resources Ltd.

“This is a big mine for the Yukon to have because it employs a couple dozen people,” he told the audience.